play ducks and drakes with trifle with; treat frivolously.

☞ This expression comes from the game of ducks and drakes, played by throwing a flat stone across the surface of water in such a way as to make it skim and skip before it finally sinks. The game was known by this name by the late 16th century, and it was already a metaphor for an idle or frivolous activity in the early 17th century.